Step 6: Results

Step 7: Findings

Measurable findings are a good metric, but do not tell the whole story. In a debriefing after the tests, we discussed how the nitro coffee made us fee...

Sometimes the only thing to get me through a Monday is a strong cup of coffee, lately though regular coffee just hasn't been doing it. Even doubling down and getting doppioespresso has little effect. How can I enjoy a good stimulating brew if I've already built up a tolerance to caffeine? (and before you ask, taking a break from it is not an option).

If you're looking for a beverage that will give you neurological disordersinvoluntary twitches superhuman abilities, then this is your coffee, it's time for NITRO COFFEE!!

To make sure that the effects were genuine, wilgubeast and I conducted a series of tests to measure our ultra-caffeinated adroitness. The results were a little surprising.
But before we start there's some important stuff you need to know about what we're dealing with, our friend caffeine.

*WARNING**Caffeine is some potent stuff, take caution when working with it and when ingesting it.
The MSDS for caffeine is frightening, including such warnings as:

Severe overexposure can cause death.

Mutagenic for mammalian somatic cells (that's us).

The substance may be toxic to heart, gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system (CNS).

Can cause birth defects.

Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. Repeated exposure to a highly toxic material may produce general deterioration of health by an accumulation in one or many human organs.

*Other stimulants
In addition to caffeine I also brewed up some coca leaves, no big deal.*Coca leaves are an alkaloid which are used as powerful stimulants, such as cocaine. Though coca leaves do have stimulant properties the leaves used in this project are far removed from actually doing cocaine (so no angry comments about doing drugs, hmm'kay?).
These coca leaves were bought online and shipped to the USA.

Whew! With all these warnings you'd think that upping the ante on an already potent drink would be crazy. And, you'd be right. So don't do this, I'm a trained professional.

I *strongly* suggest that you at least remove the links to the coca leaves supplier. The leaves are illegal in the United States and prohibited acts under 21 USC 841 include:

"(C) serving as an agent, intermediary, or other entity that causes the Internet to be used to bring together a buyer and seller to engage in the dispensing of a controlled substance in a manner not authorized by sections (!2) 823(f) or 829(e) of this title;"

You don't want to be that intermediary or other entity, nor does Instructables! Please, please remove the coca references and re-post this article.

Read the website. The leaves are "de-cocainated" - e.g. they have the controlled substance removed, and are ergo legal.

"As coffee can be decaffeinated, the coca tea can also be decocainized. Just like "decaf" coffee does retain a minute quantity of caffeine, "Decocainized" coca tea will still contain a minute quantity of the drug. When the cocaine is removed, the amount of cocaine is small enough for the product to legally sell in the USA according to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs"

Probably sell it to pharmaceutical companies. Cocaine is a totally legit (when used by the correct people) topical anesthetic used by medical professionals such as Ear Nose & Throat specialists, though it's been largely superseded by related compounds such as benzocaine in the US. Doctors in other countries still use it because it's cheap.

Fortunately, there is nothing to worry about regarding the sale of these particular coca leaves! They have been processed (like decaffeinated coffee) to remove the illegal cocaine alkaloids, but still contain other legal and stimulating compounds. I have tried several products, like coca candy and a few leaves, and the flavor is unique and pleasant, and contains a little bit of pep. Nothing drastic compared to some energy drinks or a strong cup of regular coffee, but still worth the experience.

The "coca" product in this article is shipped from Charlotte, NC, or Boston, MA, via US Postal Service. Is it legal? Probably. Is it my business, or yours? No.

I will say that publication of this speaks volumes about the author. The whining, terrified right wingers in this country have put a lot of energy into the invasion of privacy and erosion of individual rights, so it's probably not too smart to publicly associate yourself with coca leaves.

I love coffee. This Crack Coffee sounds nasty. Ugh. Well produced instructable, nevertheless!

Taurine and Caffeine are fairly volatile compounds and would likely not survive the process of boiling down. Old coffee is less caffeinated than fresh brewed, as well the second brew with the same beans yields decaffeinated coffee. Not sure on the taurine, but I expect it to have similar behavior.

A slower, lower-temperature evaporation may work, but it is possible that these desired compounds would evaporate with the water. I'm not a chemist, so I'm not sure. Would be interesting to test.

This will probably have a "mild" laxative effect , like say , a total fill up of the porcelain throne , followed up by excessively farting highly statically charged clouds of noxious methane . In other words you would turn into the "red spot" on Jupiter. My daily dose of energy drinks is 4 and my heart does not even go faster.I stay my morose self (Mind you , I never checked myself if I am an android).

I like the scientific approach, and thorough reporting, however, I think some of the ideas could be improved upon.

First, coca leaves have coca alkaloids in them, including cocaine. This makes importation into the United States a Federal Felony, unless the the coca leaves have undergone a so-called "de-cocaine-ing," similar to decaffeination of coffee. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_tea If the coca leaves have undergone cocaine removal, it still leaves a minute amount of cocaine in the leaves, leaving a possible risk if you need to take a drug test that day or the next, or if you frequent this beverage on a heavy, daily basis, then for up to a couple weeks. Namely, if you're drinking this at work, don't get hurt and ask for worker's comp.

Second, though a lot of thought evidently went into this experiment, the end result is not very remarkable (no offense intended). At only 4x the amount of caffeine than an average cup of coffee, it seems to me that drinking four cups of coffee would be preferable than brewing energy drinks through coffee grounds.

Third, energy drinks contain more than a few extra chemicals than just caffeine. These chemicals include (but are not limited to) carnitine, inositol, taurine, and creatine. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_drink#Ingredients) Some of the chemicals can be taxing on internal organs other than just the heart. Also, some of the other chemicals in the energy drink (ie: preservatives, aftificial flavors, etc) may react if heated. And don't forget how much sugar is in the energy drink, plus the simple syrup. Might have wanted to do a glucose test before and after drinking this.

Anyway, if you are looking to increase energy in a natural way, try eating a balanced, healthy diet, lay off the coffee for a couple weeks, then limit yourself to a few cups a day at most, and only when needed to give a boost.

ColOmbia...it is not the University, it's the country. Sorry, a pet peeve of mine. I'm on a mission to help people spell this correctly! Oh, and you can buy coca tea anywhere online, including Amazon. It is wonderful and has no "drug" properties!

Interesting recipe. I don't know how efficient, but a nice read :D The problem for me is that I am immune to High-caffeine energy drinks :( I can drink 4-5 of those at once without any effect (I do drink energy drinks, but only for the taste. I really like it :) ..and for thirst, of course). And a strong expresso only has a slight effect. Caffeine ampoules are the answer! =))

The 'drip' coffee-machine only passes the water through once at a fixed rate, so you have to over-use coffee grinds.

If you want stronger you need a cyclic percolater where the water is continually cycled around through the coffee 'basket' until you achieve the strength desired. The back slap from this is that you end up with a more bitter product.

The caffetiere, or french press, coffee maker can use (almost) as high a proportion of ground coffee to water as you like. It works by simply steeping the coffee grounds in water from a kettle, then pressing the grounds out of the brewed coffee.

I can make coffee of any strength between fairly weak drip coffee and espresso (the flavour is different, and better than either, imo). The only drawbacks are that it's less efficient (since you use a coarser grind) and not filtering through paper leaves more of the oils which may not be good for you and may bother some people, although other people prefer the flavour.